Emerging from the undergrowth after a period of hibernation comes Australia’s favourite marsupial Wombat, with his new release on Open Records. The Helo Remixes EP is the label’s 10th digital outing and to celebrate this first milestone they’ve compiled a tasty remix EP of Wombat’s storming track which first appeared on their most recent CD compilation – “Festivus”.

Wombat is a fresh direction from Andrew Davidson, the man behind one of Australia’s most successful progressive trance – SunControlSpecies.

Signed to Danish super-label Iboga Records, SunControlSpecies is one of the most in demand live acts on the global outdoor party circuit, playing gigs all over the globe, including Europe, Israel, USA and Brazil.

Focused on a deeper and more experimental sound, casually described as minimal-infused progressive and progressively-infused techno, Wombat signals a way forward for future releases by Davidson and Open Records in 2009 and beyond. The 5-track package includes both the original and remix by Wombat himself, alongside 3 other remixes by well chosen respected artists in a variety of genres.

Kasey Taylor’s remix is a classic deep progressive house groover, delivered in the way only Australia’s favourite dance music expert can. Kasey is back in the studio in 2009 after a long break, and this remix is a taste of what’s to come from one of progressive dance music’s finest sons.

Israeli A. Balter delivers a massive Bodzin-esque minimal monster next, stripping the track back to the bare essentials and adding some techy percussive work and a thudding bassline. With work on the way alongside Perfect Stranger on Iboga Records and assorted solo tracks as well, this talented artist is fast becoming one of the most talked about names on Israel’s underground techno scene.

BEEF Records head-honchos Shades Of Gray take a different route again, with a funky and sophisticated tech-house cut that has been getting massive reactions when played in their live set on a recent global tour. With their tunes hitting the Top 10 in the Beatport tech-house charts, Shades Of Gray are surely a names to watch in 2009.

Closing the EP is a 2009 re-imagining by Wombat himself, in a futuristic progressive techno style. It brings to an end what is without doubt Open’s most exciting release of the year so far, and a worthy addition to the hard-drive of any collector of forward thinking electronic dance music.